User blog:The Maths God/MASE Reusable Rocket Program (MRRP)
9th August 2018 Recently, MASE has attempted to create its own reusable rocket design capable of carrying small and medium sized payloads to orbit. However, of several attempts at creating a reusable second stage, 5 resulted in a fuel capacity too small to allow the second stage to reach orbit, and 3 were too heavy for the first stage to lift. Instead, MASE has focused on creating a facility to launch, land and refurbish the exiting LP1 rockets. The aim is both to lower costs and to allow more frequent launches. With the construction of the Vehicle Refurbishment Building (VRB) and a storage facility to hold rockets while not being used, MASE hopes to get launches of LP1 rockets as frequent as 6 hours or less. The new facilities being built are as follows: *Vehicle Refurbishment Building (VRB). Framework 80% complete, panelling installation beginning *LP1 Storage Building. Panelling 40% installed *Landing pad LP2. Completed and ready for strength testing The VRB will be used for refurbishing the rockets once they have landed to get them ready for re-use. If any repair work is required, they will be taken to the VAB where better facilities are available. MASE is looking into whether a separate repair facility would be time and cost-effective. MASE has built a total of 4 LP1 rockets, and given each a name for identification: *LP1 #01T Mercury (Test, not intended for reuse) *LP1 #02T Venus (Test) *LP1 #03 Mars *LP1 #04 Jupiter Test flights of the rockets will begin once the landing pad has been confirmed to be safe and able to support the stress of a hard landing. 11th August 2018 Landing pad LP2 strength tests have been completed and they show that the pad is capable of safely withstanding more than the required stress, and has even handled a simulated landing with seized hydraulics on all four landing legs with no detectable damage. Having been approved by the MASE Safety Team, the pad is ready to test landings. Meanwhile, the LP1 storage building has been completed and all four LP1 rockets transferred inside. It holds capacity for up to 8 LP1 rockets while allowing space for transport through the centre, or 12 rockets when completely packed. Due to this, MASE is allowing pad LP2 to be used as a contingency landing pad, not only for our own rockets but for other agencies as well. The rockets can be stored in the Storage Building until they can be safely transported to their owner agencies' compound. Progress on the VRB is going fairly slow, and it is expected to be completed by the 20th August 2018, with facilities installed by the 28th. Until then, refurbishment of the LP1 rockets will be completed in the VAB. The first test flight of LP1 #01T Mercury has been scheduled for 15:00 13th August 2018, where it will be launched from pad 1B and will attempt to land on the newly built LP2. If the landing is successful, it will be placed on public display, although the location is currently TBA. An offer is being made to any agency wishing to use this flight to launch a payload, otherwise a dummy satellite will be used. Any agencies wishing to buy payload space are to do so by commenting below. The price for a launch is $3M (negotiable), with the space being given to the agency with the highest offer * * If an agency provides a valid reason why the launch of their payload is more important than others, they may be picked instead even with a lower offer. Category:Blog posts